A New Ski-O Participant

The 1997 Ski Orienteering Champs and Empire State Games Ski-O Finals
hosted recently by EMPO at Garnet Hill in the southern Adirondacks was
1) my first time as Registrar for a national-scale event and 2) my
first Ski-O competition. I think things went very well in both
situations.

With less than 80 attendees, keeping track of registrants was made
easy with the use of a spreadsheet. Other meet officials (the meet
director, publicist, start chief and results chief) all used the
information I put together, so I had work at keeping it accurate.
Packets were stuffed ahead of time with the help of meet director Bill
Jameson, results chief Glen Tryson and my 8-year old son Robert.
Once we got to Garnet Hill, setting up the packet pick-up area was
made easier with the help of other volunteers and the staff of the ski
center. I don't recall any problems or complaints with the packet
pick-up procedure or the registration process in general.

E-mail registrations were allowed for this event. To do registration
for a larger event, I would not allow e-mail registration because
there's too much opportunity for abuse of the system; that is,
registering but not paying, and then deciding not to show up. At this
event, were only a couple of cases where people registered but didn't
come (or pay). Because a large number of the participants had access
to the Internet and e-mail, they could get information quickly and
easily from me if needed; get updates on weather and snow conditions;
and receive information on results shortly after the meet ended.

As my introduction to ski-orienteering, this event was both fun and
educational. The people who excel at this particular sport spend a
lot of time preparing for it - I could tell that my lack of
preparation influenced how well I performed on the course (I hadn't
been on cross country skis for over a year and it showed!). The
challenge of ski orienteering is keeping track of where you are on a
gridwork of trails as you challenge yourself physically on cross
country skis, much like Foot-O offers you a similar challenge on foot
in the woods. Personally, I get more opportunities to run than I do
to cross country ski, and so prefer the foot version. I made a route
choice (tactical) error on the second half of my course and ended up
knee-deep in snow in a misguided bushwhack attempt, where taking the
time to ski down the trail and then back up to the control would have
been more efficient. But hey, everyone makes mistakes, and every
event is a learning experience. All in all, I thought the course was
well-planned and enjoyable. I may even try ski-orienteering again, if
we ever get enough snow in our area!

My thanks to every one of our club members at the event [I'm sure
you've listed them elsewhere, Phil] including my sons and helpers,
Greg and Robert; plus Carol and Tom Moran of the Rochester O Club who
helped out Saturday morning as they collected Empire State Games
registrations and distributed ESG uniforms; and the staff of Garnet
Hill Cross Country Ski Center, who were always there to lend a hand
and provided a great location to have this competition.

- Janet Tryson

Comments From US Champs Attendees

I'd just like to drop you a little note to tell you how happy
the Canadian contingent from Hamilton was with the weekend.
The trails were in great shape considering the conditions and we were
really happy with the event. Mark Tarno and Mike Waddington have
talked about coming down there for a training camp next year. It was
only my fourth time on skis this winter and first ski-o race in about
4 years, but I was quite pleased with my results.

Once again a job well done.

- Nevin French

On behalf of the HKF group we would just like to thank you for an
excellent weekend fo ski orienteering. The map was fantastic and the
Garnett Hill people did a great job given the less than ideal weather
conditions.

The long course offerred great route choice and the fast (at least for
the first starters) conditions made execution tough.
The route from 1 to 2 cost Mark Tarnopolsky some time. He went left
at the east end of the tailings and I went right and follwed the trail
east.
My route was probably 90 seconds faster. As a result he was making
up time the whole race (notice his excellent split - only 3 seconds I
think worse than the top Swede from the split time to the finish).
The route to 4 was also a tough one. I was feeling tired so I elected
to run straight up along a small trail. The climb to the finish
killed me.

The short course was good and the problem with the bridge was not an
ideal situation. I think a leg from the old #5 to #8 directly would
have offerred more route choice or perhaps a few more
"connector" trails would have reduced the bush wacking. The
area around the lodge could have been used more (e.g., ski through the
start area and back out again?). By the way, are you sure the finish
line didn't melt down hill on the second day? Losing to my training
partner by 1 second was tough :-)

All in all it was a great weekend.

Cheers, Mike Waddington

Thanks a lot for putting on this meet. I have no complaints at all.
The courses were fun. The bad weather seemed to happen around the
courses, but not during them!

- Rick Lavine

Old Timers Day(s)

You might notice the "Empire State
Senior Games" orienteering event on the schedule, which will
be taking place on June 7th this year at Green Lakes State Park
in Fayettville, just east of Syracuse, about a 2 hour drive from
EMPO-land. This is a nice map, which I've run (and skied) on a
couple of times before, and I would encourage everyone of the
qualifying age (50 and up) to make the trip. It's not too hilly
(except for one or two spots) or thickly wooded; just good running
(or jogging, or walking) territory. There are other sports available
in the Games, too. To get on the Senior Games mailing list, or
get moe information, drop a line to Barb Sleight of CNYO at 6187
Smith Road, N. Syracuse, NY 13212, or call her at 315-458-6406.
Personally, this is my first year to qualify, so I plan on trying
to make it.

There are a couple other orienteering
events coming up focused on us geezers: The Veteran's World Cup,
is an international event being held this year in Minnesota in
October, and it's the second big international Meet run by the
US Orienteering Federation (after the World Orienteering Championships
in 1993). After that, the World Masters Games, an Olympic-type
large scale event, which will include orienteering, are being
held in August 1998 in Portland, Oregon, with large scale sponsorship
from a famous shoe company from that area. These are both multi-day
events, and there will be courses for the younger set as well,
so if you might be getting into those areas of the country at
the right time, think about signing up. I'm sure there will be
some other EMPO folks at each of them.

Spring Schedule

As has become our pattern, we have three
Meets lined up for the Spring "O" season. We start off
at Peebles Island in April. If you haven't been there,
it's a nice area with wonderful views of the rivers (Hudson and
Mohawk) and an intricate trail network. Since you can't possibly
get lost (there's only one way off the island), it makes a nice
opener. Given our recent weather luck, and the fact that it will
be April ("showers bring ...."), be prepared for a little
dampness, but Peebles tends to dry out sooner than some other
places. And by May, it's likely that Thacher Park will
be in great shape for us. We gave Thacher a rest last year, so
some of those places we've visited a few times now may not seem
as familiar. Plus, we'll be starting from Hop Field, which we've
only used for Ski-O before, so the White/Yellow courses will definitely
be over territory not previously used for them. Finally we wrap
things up with a visit to Vischer Ferry Preserve on the
day before Father's Day in June. This will be our first try at
something some other "O" clubs have been doing, holding
a "Daddy-O" with special recognition for Family Teams
("Mommy-O" and "Uncle-O" teams, etc., are
fine too). Naturally we'll still have the usual advanced courses
as well. Hope we see you at all three!

As you can see from the schedule page,
there are a lot of Orienteering Meets being put on by other clubs
around us. We hope you'll make it to all of ours, but if you want
to up your "O" habit to even higher levels, and have
some fun, see some new places, and increase your skills and fitness,
try traveling a little further afield. Most of the Meets listed
are 2-3 hours from Albany and can make a nice day trip. Further
information on any of them can be obtained from the contacts listed,
from the WorldWideWeb, from Orienteering North America,
and usually from your EMPO club officers. Yes, Colorado is a bit
more than 3 hours away, but that's listed because it's such a
great event; a few EMPO folks will be there, so if it fits in
your summer vacation plans, join in. Our Relay Team could use
some help.